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Christopher Simmons was all of 17, when he, with a
friend, attempted robbery at neighbour Shirley Crook's
house on September 19, 1993. The plan came unstuck when
the lady of the house woke up. Simmons gagged her, tied
her up with duct tape and threw her over the Meramec
river bridge in his home state of Missouri. The woman
died of drowning. The boy was arrested from school the
next day. Simmons confessed to the murder. That was in
1993. Since then, he has been in a protection centre.
The junior court sentenced Christopher Simmons to
capital punishment - death by injection. The case went
in appeal before the Missouri Supreme court, which
overturned the verdict, citing "evolving standards
of decency." Missouri state went in appeal before
the US federal Supreme Court, which is hearing the case
now. A verdict is expected by early next year. Watch
this space for later updates.
The Christopher Simmons case has thrown up numerous
questions revolving around juvenile death penalty and
the very raison detre of capital punishment. for the
record, the United States is in the august company of
Nigeria, Democratic republic of Congo and Iran, which
allow capital punishment of crimes which were committed
when the offender was younger than 18. According to
international conventions and law, any person less than
18 years of age is a juvenile, and hence deemed
incapable of impulse control and making the right
judgment, putting them out of the purview of harsh
punishment. US is also a signatory to these agreements.
Unlike in India, US laws differ from state to state
capital punishment for youngsters. Oklahoma, Texas and
Missouri are a few of the states which allow juvenile
death penalty. Even among the states where the penalty
is in force, the states rarely use this. Yet, the fact
remains that the US is the world's largest executor of
child offenders in any given year. Currently, 17 states
that allow the death penalty for other people prohibit
it for those who were under 18 when they committed their
crimes.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center,
there are now 82 inmates on death row in US for crimes
committed when they were under 18. States have put to
death 22 such inmates in recent years.
As late as 2002, the US Federal Supreme Court ruled
that mentally retarded people be exempted from capital
punishment, considering their bran development is les
than that of ordinary people. People who, by birth lack
in faculties available to everyone else cannot be put on
the same level as reasoned the Supreme court.
Anti-capital punishment activists say that the same
standard should be applied in the Christopher Simmons
case also. If lack of proper brain development can be a
reason for removing death penalty for the mentally
challenged, the same argument can be applied in the case
of juvenile offenders also. The American bar Association
has pitched in for abolishing capital punishment for
juvenile offenders. Support is also pouring in from
social, religious, political and human rights
organizations calling for an end to capital punishment
with the Christopher Simmons case.
Human rights proponents argue that several
"mitigating factors" have not been taken into
account when the junior court awarded death penalty to
Christopher Simmons. Christopher Simmons was the victim
of his sadistic and abusive stepfather Bob Hayes, who
introduced his stepson to alcohol at the age of four.
The stepfather is reported to have made the son drink
for enjoyment of his friends at the pub. He grew up in a
terrorized family, and his mother was too feeble to
support him emotionally. Later, Christopher Simmons took
to drugs.
One of Simmons' friends, Christie Brooks, testified
in court that she saw the stepfather hit Simmons so hard
in the ear that blood trickled down his neck. It was
later discovered that his eardrum had burst as a result
of this attack. Miss Brooks asserts that she witnessed
Simmons' embarrassment, crying and sobbing as a result
of his abuse. Simmons' mother, Cheryl Hayes, was too
intimidated by her husband, to intervene.
At another occasion, when Christopher Simmons as a
toddler, he was tied to a tree saw that the boy won't
wander around when the stepfather was fishing.
When he grew up, Christopher Simmons would take
refuge at a friend's trailer when domestic violence grew
to a crescendo. This man is aid to have exploited the
young boys into crime and would share the booty with
them.
Psychologist Dr Robert Smith, who conducted extensive
interviews with Christopher Simmons, his mother and his
relatives and friends concluded the boy, a victim of
domestic violence and abuse, had limited brain
development like many other youngsters of his age. His
mother confessed tat she was emotionally unhelpful to
her son. The psychologist asserted that the boy did not
have a role model in his family or among relatives, due
to which his personality development was deficient. It
was alleged that the jury that sentenced Christopher
Simmons was never adequately informed of Simmons' social
history or the possible efforts on his behavior,
including his abusive childhood, possible mental
condition and drug dependency.
The only testimony presented portrayed Simmons as a
good brother, a loving son and a compassionate person
who provided support to his friends and family. Defense
attorneys failed to elicit critical information from the
few witnesses called to testify. Further, the defense
did not present the effects of Simmons' childhood abuse
on his development and behavior, his drug abuse history,
his mental functioning and his potential mental illness.
The US Supreme Court upheld capital punishment for
16- and 17-year-old offenders in 1989. It banned it for
those 15 and under in 1988. The court decided in 2002 to
ban the death penalty for the moderately mentally
retarded. The court found that a national consensus
against the practice had shaped, since number of states
banning death penalty for the retarded had grown from
two to 13.
One of the arguments in favour of death penalty is
that is serves as a deterrent to potential criminals.
But the counter-argument goes that the adolescent brain
is not mature enough to recognize the message and act
accordingly, especially in a domestic abuse victim.
The US Supreme Court also seems to be split on the
capital punishment issue. When death penalty for the
mentally retarded was scrapped, the vote was 2-3. A
9-member is hearing Christopher Simmons case, which too
appears equally split. One of the judges, during the
hearing, wondered "why a person who is not eligible
for a club pass or voting rights or drinking be
death-eligible."
Four Supreme Court justices are on record opposing
the execution of very young killers, but until now they
could not persuade their colleagues to reopen the
debate.
BY JM
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The
magic begins! Read all about 
The Clock ticks for
Christopher Simmons
Peeping
Toms! Why do they do it?
FWD:
Jhelo this stuff! 